Fukudome Coming to America

His name isn’t Eddie Murphy, but he is coming to America. Kosuke Fukudome, the unrestricted free-agent outfielder from Japan, has made his decision to come to the Major Leagues.

The 30-year old left hander now has to decide where he will go. Major interest is coming from the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs, who will be playing this out like the Yankees and the Red Sox were battling for Johan Santana. The San Diego Padres are also interested; there’s even a report that they have already made him an offer to make him the club’s highest-priced free-agent import ever.

Fukudome is supposedly favouring a west coast team so that he may take direct flights to Japan in a more convenient fashion. So going to San Diego is a viable option for Fukudome. He is, however, still weighing his options. One thing seems clear: the offer to attract Fukudome will be greater than the one Fukudome has already rejected by the Yomiuri Giants – a four year, $30 million deal.

The Chicago Cubs, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, “are prepared to offer a mega-package similar to the eye-popping deal they presented last offseason to free-agent left fielder Alfonso Soriano, who bagged an eight-year, $136 million contract.”

Fukudome has a career on-base percentage of nearly 0.400. The Padres are especially interested in him because he could potentially replace Mike Cameron in center, even if Fukudome is natural in right field.

As with the rest of hot stove reports, we’ll just have to wait and see where Fukudome winds up.